


Kings & Queens

by Merrily_Merrily



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Fangirls, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Long-Distance Relationship, Loving Marriage, M/M, One Word Prompts, Retirement
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-16 00:16:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14152500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merrily_Merrily/pseuds/Merrily_Merrily
Summary: A series of one-shots based on random prompts, as well as prompts from Pliroy Weeks 2017 and 2018 that I didn't get around to at the time.Most of these take place between my ficsCast Me GentlyandGray & Old. Some might take place after. No spoilers. They'll be too short for that. A few others might take place duringBaby Feetinstead.





	1. Separation - Cast Me Gently

**Author's Note:**

> Story title is from [Mat Kearney’s “Kings & Queens.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CFph8k3Kuw)
> 
> Random Prompt (Separation) from a list on the internet. Set between [Cast Me Gently](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9282278/chapters/21036251) and [Gray & Old](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10060742/chapters/22416737). Yuri is 21 and JJ is 25.

**August 2021**

Leaving Toronto becomes harder with each passing year.

Yuri's opted for a later flight this time, so they could lay around in bed for hours and soak in every moment of their last day together. Packing his things that afternoon is almost unbearable. The drive to the airport is fraught with long, painful silences, and a death grip on JJ’s hand. They kiss in the car after parking because they’re out of view from the crowds filing in and out of the terminal; it’s deep and earnest, almost desperate, and Yuri is overcome with a frantic hopelessness.

Before the line through security, they stand off to the side to exchange their final goodbyes.

“I’ll see you at the end of October,” JJ says.

“I know.”

Yuri has his hair pulled back, tucked into the raised hood of his plain sweater, no flags or logos or characteristic animal print to give his identity away, with his glasses perched on his nose, because his fans rarely see him in those. JJ’s made a similar effort to appear anonymous, with a nondescript baseball hat over his hair and a light jacket to conceal the recognizable tattoos down his arms. He’s let his facial hair grow in, too. It almost makes him look like a stranger.

“We have both of our Grand Prix assignments together this year,” JJ continues.

“I _know_.”

They didn’t have that comfort last year. That knowledge should make Yuri happy, but mostly he feels impatient. Even just two months is too long. The weeks will drag by slowly, one day after the next, stretching on until it seems as if an eternity has passed since he could kiss JJ, or touch him, settle into JJ’s space and savor his warmth.

Yuri stares at the floor beneath his feet because he can’t look into JJ’s eyes. He knows he’ll see the same anxious longing reflected back at him if he does.

JJ’s arms wrap around him, and Yuri’s pulled in tight against JJ’s chest. When Yuri doesn’t react except to close his eyes, JJ’s lifts him off of his feet as easily as he did when Yuri was sixteen. Yuri tucks his head against the side of JJ’s face, breathes him in and presses a kiss beside JJ’s ear where no one can see.

They’re silent for a moment. They always are at the end, until one of them inevitably crumbles.

This year, it’s Yuri who breaks first.

“I love you,” he whispers.

JJ’s hold tightens until Yuri’s breath is nearly squeezed right out of his lungs. “I love you, too.”

He sets Yuri back onto the floor. Yuri stares at their shoes — his ratty purple Converses and JJ’s pristine black boots. If he stares hard enough, he can ignore the burning in his eyes, the ache in the back of his throat.

“Be safe,” JJ says.

Yuri inhales sharply and breathes out, “Yeah.”

“Call me between flights.”

“It’ll be early here,” Yuri says, though it’s a pointless argument. He would have called whether JJ told him to or not. He already knows what JJ’s going to say anyway.

“I don’t care.”

Yuri holds out because he doesn’t want to agree too fast, but he nods eventually.

Briefly, JJ takes one of Yuri’s hands, pressing a soothing circle into Yuri’s palm with his thumb. It’s not nearly enough, but it’s the most they can risk. There’s always a chance someone will know who they are, always the possibility that someone might snap a picture of them together, especially here, where JJ is so well-known. The years have spawned too many photographs already. It’s becoming difficult to downplay their relationship. With each picture, fewer and fewer people believe the lie, that they’re only close friends.

“Little Bit,” JJ says, low and soft, and Yuri finally lifts his head to peer into JJ’s eyes. He looks resolved, but Yuri knows JJ’s forcing himself to be strong, because he doesn’t quite manage to hide the pain. “I love you.”

Yuri swallows to soothe the ache in his throat. It’s a futile effort. His voice still sounds tight when he says, “Love you, too.”

JJ gives his hand one final squeeze before letting go. Yuri hoists his backpack higher onto his shoulders. He has to force himself to turn away — to think of Lilia, who’ll make him a snack and camomile tea when he gets home, and Yakov, who’ll push him hard in training the next day because he knows it’s the only way Yuri will be able to distract himself, and Mila, who’ll stay the night and force him to watch shitty horror movies to take his mind off of the distance and the heartache.

Yuri’s eyes blur as he goes through security, just enough that the fear sets in that he might actually cry in the middle of the airport.

It’s stupid. All of this is. The coming and going. The uneasy farewells. The months of separation. It’s been years, and Yuri knows it won’t get any easier. It can’t, because every year his feelings deepen, every year he’s a little more in love, and saying goodbye time and again feels a bit like dying. He’s always sad and lonely, or angry and bitter. Or numb, which is worse than anything else, because he doesn’t feel like a person when that happens, just an empty shell going through the motions, until the next time they’re together and he can finally breathe again.

He inhales deeply now while he has the chance, so his lungs are full to the point of pain. Yuri holds it until he’s blinked the tears away, then even longer to keep them from returning. He pulls the fraying edges of his courage together, breathing out as he sends his backpack through the scanner. He collects it at the end and swings it back onto his shoulders, stepping away to let others through.

Yuri turns then, finding JJ still standing on the other side. JJ lifts his hand to wave, but Yuri doesn’t return it. He unlocks his phone and makes a call, watching the look of confusion that crosses JJ’s face as he answers.

“I want to retire,” Yuri says, before JJ has the chance to say anything.

JJ’s eyes widen. “ _What_?” he chokes out, disbelieving.

“At the end of this season,” Yuri tells him. “I want to retire.”

“But—”

“I hate competing. I want to skate, but it’s stressful and exhausting and I hate it by the end of each season, because I can’t be with you the way I want to. I’m sick of hating something I used to love.”

“Baby—”

Yuri continues talking over him, staring at him over the distance, so JJ can see the hard set of his eyes and the determination on his face, and know that this isn’t just a whim in a moment of weakness. “We can do ice shows. Or I can go to school. When you retire and start coaching, I’ll choreograph. We can do this together, because I can’t keep going on like this. I can’t keep saying goodbye to you in a fucking airport, because it kills me every fucking time, and even though you try to be so fucking strong, I know it’s killing you, too.”

“ _Yuri_ ,” JJ says, and that brings a pause to Yuri’s ranting. JJ rarely uses his name anymore. Yuri can’t even remember the last time he called him anything but Yura, or, more often than not, one of the sweet nicknames he started using before they were even friends.

“What?” Yuri grumbles.

“You can’t just make a decision like that on the spur of the moment!”

“I’m not. I’ve been thinking about it since last summer.”

JJ hesitates. By his expression, Yuri assumes he has no idea what to say. Eventually, JJ makes another attempt to reason with him, but it’s weaker now in the face of Yuri’s resolve. “We should talk about this.”

“We will,” Yuri says. “When I’m back in Saint Petersburg. I have to tell Yakov and Lilia. But I’m not changing my mind, so nothing you say is going to convince me. I want to retire. I’ve gone as long as I can. I’ve done as much as I could. I’m just so fucking tired.”

“Baby…”

He’s uncertain still. Yuri knows he is. It’s in JJ’s voice, and it’s still written all over his face. JJ wants to argue, but he can’t. Yuri hasn’t left him any room to, because JJ already knows what it’s like. JJ knows how much the stress of each season chips away at him, until he’s overworked and angry by the end of it.

JJ’s mouth opens, but he doesn’t say anything, just closes it a few seconds later and swallows.

“I love you, you piece of shit,” Yuri growls.

He hears a stuttered, breathless laugh over the line. Yuri hangs up before JJ can return the sentiment. He holds JJ’s gaze until JJ lowers his phone. It’s hard to say for sure, but Yuri thinks JJ’s eyes look a little wet, a little bright. JJ’s mouth rises into a tremulous smile, which Yuri matches with one of his own.

Yuri turns again, and though his eyes sting when he can no longer see JJ over his shoulder, he knows that this goodbye will be one of their last — and that thought, more than the ice, more than the medals that will surely come for them both, makes Yuri look forward to the upcoming season, makes him think he might actually enjoy it this time, like he used to when he was a young boy just getting his first taste of victory.

It’s been a long time coming.


	2. Gold - Cast Me Gently

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 2026 Winter Olympics are the first Yuri watches as a spectator since Sochi in 2014.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes places after [Gray & Old](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10060742/chapters/22416737). Yuri is 25/about to turn 26, and JJ is 29. The prompt this time is Day 1 from Pliroy Week 2018: Gold.
> 
> PS: Calgary has not been chosen to host the 2026 Olympics, but it’s one of the cities exploring the possibility of a bid for it, so I chose it for JJ.

**February 2026**

The last warm-up group is on the ice when Yuri’s hears someone say, “God, he’s still so hot.”

He tears his eyes away from JJ. There are two girls sitting in the seats directly in front of him, talking with their heads together like they mean to have a private conversation, but their voices somehow carry beneath the music issuing from the loudspeakers. He can’t see their faces and is therefore unable to guess an exact age. Something about the sound of their voices makes him assume mid-twenties, maybe younger if they’re saying “still” like any of the skaters currently on the ice could be considered ancient.

Well, maybe _one_ could. By figure skating standards anyway.

“And he still skates like he did years ago,” the second girl says. “How does he even keep up?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” the first girl counters. “He’s hot. He’s the one guy Ian’s agreed I can fuck if I ever get the chance. _JJ_!!”

The screech has Yuri glancing back down to the ice, where JJ has just landed a perfectly executed quad Lutz right in front of this section of the stands. Both girls scream his name several more times, which results in a number of other people taking up the chant as well.

Yuri snorts when JJ throws one of his hands up into a J as he skates off. He’s thriving under the rapt attention of his home crowd. Yuri’s seen the hunger in JJ’s eyes ever since Calgary was chosen to host the 2026 Olympics. Every moment of his career has been leading up to this — the chance to take Olympic gold in the same city, the same _arena_ , where his parents took gold all the way back in ‘88.

It’ll be an incredible moment, when it happens. And it will. Yuri doesn’t have any doubts. With the team gold under his belt, JJ’s already the most decorated Olympic figure skater in history.

 _You’d better watch, Viktor,_ Yuri thinks. He can see his one time rinkmate standing at the boards with Yuuri, offering some last minute encouragement to their trainee.

The girls in front of Yuri settle down. Basking in the thrill of the moment, Yuri brings his legs up and props a foot onto the back of each of their chairs, giving them a noticeable jolt. They both whip around like they mean to snarl at him for being an inconsiderate asshole. The brunette, the one busy ogling JJ, even gets out a sharp, “What the _fuck_?” before she cuts herself off.

He sees it clearly, the moment they both recognize him. Their expressions go slack, then their faces blanch and their eyes widen. It can’t be too much of an odd sight by now — Yuri Plisetsky, now Yuri Plisetsky-Leroy, in the Canada sweater Isabella had custom-made for him, and a red toque with “QUEEN” knitted in white across the front. But once the shock wears off, the girls stare as if they’ve never seen anything so strange in their entire lives, even though he’s been photographed in the same attire many times over the last few years.

“Y-Yuri Plisetsky…” the second girl, a redhead, gasps like she’s seen a ghost.

He’d question how they managed not to notice him sitting here this entire time if he didn’t already know they’ve been in their own little world since they sat down.

Yuri leans forward, smirking with his feet still set on the backs of their chairs when he says, “You won’t ever get the chance.”

“What?” The brunette stutters on the word. Her face quickly turns pink when she realizes his meaning.

He answers anyway. “To fuck him,” and then, because he’s feeling a little brash, a little high on the excitement of this event, he adds, “I took care of that this morning.”

Then he makes a point of shifting in his chair like he’s trying to find a position that’s actually comfortable.

Both of them flush scarlet, gaping and stammering until the redhead finally gets her wits about her again and chokes out a laugh. It’s quiet at first, a little hesitant, but her volume increases as Yuri’s smirk widens. She’s cackling uncontrollably then, leaning into her friend to muffle the sound against the brunette’s shoulder.

The brunette’s mouth quirks into a tentative smile. The look of bewildered fear begins to drain from her face as soon as she understands that Yuri’s more amused than angry. She holds up her phone a little shyly and asks, “Selfie?”

Yuri snorts again, but shrugs and says, “Sure.”

He finally takes his feet off of their chairs. They settle back into place as the brunette raises her phone into position. Yuri leans forward until his face is between theirs.

“Flaunt your ring!” the redhead says.

So Yuri does. He lifts his hand to present his engagement ring and wedding band to the camera, the most meaningful gold he owns, fingers spread as if to say, _“Check this shit out.”_

The brunette snaps a couple of pictures, which turn out pretty good despite her nervous hands. Then the redhead pulls out her phone to do the same. Yuri follows with his own, which has them exhilerated, giggling and smiling all the while.

“I’m going to show JJ and tell him what you said,” he warns them, sitting back into his seat when they’re done.

They turn to him again, and the brunette asks, “Can I post one of the pictures?”

“Yeah, make your friends jealous.”

“Me too!” the redhead says, and when Yuri doesn’t argue, they both rush to pull up an appropriate app on their phones.

Yuri doesn’t look too closely, but he catches a glimpse of several exclamation points and a number of excited emojis filling the captions.

They go quiet when the warm-up ends and the first skater of the final group takes to the ice. Both of the girls cheer for each skater, vibrating with excitement as every program brings them closer and closer to the moment most of the audience has surely been anxiously waiting for. They glance over their shoulders at Yuri between programs, asking him questions about his cats, which Yuri is happy to answer, or saying very thoughtful things about his career and early retirement. They’re chummy and comfortable with him by the time JJ steps onto the ice as the final skater.

Yuri joins the deafening cheer that erupts from the crowd, roaring, “ _JJ_! KICK SOME ASS!”

And when JJ skates, so beautifully and so powerfully that the audience is almost breathless with emotion by the end of it, Yuri has to blink away the tears in his eyes. JJ kneels down and presses his mouth to the ice longer than usual, taking the time to soak the moment in, before he’s bowing and waving and flashing two Js, then blowing a kiss to Yuri’s section of the stands on his way to the Kiss & Cry.

Yuri grins broadly and raises his hand to “catch” it while JJ grins back, which has the girls in front of Yuri and a few more around him squealing and cooing in delight.

It’s a perfect moment when the score comes in — a personal best, a new record, and enough for gold by a landslide. The crowd explodes, cheering and screaming with joy. Nathalie and Alain throw their arms around JJ in a crushing embrace, and JJ bursts into tears, leaning first into his mother, then his father, as a series of choked off sobs and wet sniffles break out around Yuri.

Viktor approaches JJ once JJ has risen and waved and flashed his Js again. No one but the skaters and coaches who witnessed the tension that once existed between them will understand the significance of the moment, but Yuri watches with a tight throat and a fluttering heart as Viktor holds out his hand, and JJ grasps it in a firm shake.

The brunette and the redhead are openly weeping, fanning their tear-streaked faces with their hands. Yuri very nearly joins them, but he holds it back, pushes that feeling down for later, because those emotions, that depth of pride and elation are for JJ’s eyes alone.

He throws his voice into the rising chant of “JJ! JJ! JJ!” instead, and for a brief moment — before his thoughts are once again with his husband — he thinks, for the first time in his life, that the JJ Girls aren’t really so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!! (And often inspiring.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'll continue to add tags and characters as the prompts are filled.


End file.
